Editor,

Has America become the land of special interest and home of the double standard?

Lets see: if we lie to the Congress, it's a felony and if the Congress lies to us its just politics; if we dislike a black person, we're racist and if a black person dislikes whites, its their 1st Amendment right; the government spends millions to rehabilitate criminals and they do almost nothing for the victims; in public schools you can teach that homosexuality is OK, but you better not use the word God in the process; you can kill an unborn child, but it is wrong to execute a mass murderer; we don't burn books in America, we now rewrite them; we got rid of communist and socialist threats by renaming them progressive; we are unable to close our border with Mexico, but have no problem protecting the 38th parallel in Korea; if you protest against President Obama's policies you're a terrorist, but if you burned an American flag or George Bush in effigy it was your 1st Amendment right.

You can have pornography on TV or the internet, but you better not put a nativity scene in a public park during Christmas; we have eliminated all criminals in America, they are now called sick people; we can use a human fetus for medical research, but it is wrong to use an animal.

We take money from those who work hard for it and give it to those who don't want to work; we all support the Constitution, but only when it supports our political ideology; we still have freedom of speech, but only if we are being politically correct; parenting has been replaced with Ritalin and video games; the land of opportunity is now the land of hand outs; the similarity between Hurricane Katrina and the gulf oil spill is that neither president did anything to help.

And how do we handle a major crisis today? The government appoints a committee to determine who's at fault, then threatens them, passes a law, raises our taxes; tells us the problem is solved so they can get back to their reelection campaign.

What has happened to the land of the free and home of the brave?

- Ken Huber
Tawas City

Ken Huber,

Has America become the land of first world problems and white whine?

Let's see:

If a Mexican wants to work to support his family he should be arrested and deported, but if a wall street banker defrauds the country of billions of dollars he gets a tax cut; if a white person disenfranchises a black person it's racist; if a black person disenfranchises a white person it would be a freakin' miracle because that has never happened, ever; the government spends millions to incarcerate criminals but does almost nothing to address the causes of crime; in public schools you can teach the Bible as literature and allow religious groups to organize but you'd better not allow any pagan rituals or body piercings; you can carry handguns and sell cigarettes to teenagers but it's wrong for a pregnant woman to decide the fate of her own body; we don't read literature, we burn it; we got rid of McCarthyist witch hunts by renaming it conservativism; we demonize Mexicans who come into our country and provide cheap labor for work we consider to be beneath us; if you spoke up against George Bush after 9/11 you were branded a terrorist, but if you compare Obama to Hitler it's your First Amendment right.

People can blast spout religious demagoguery on the 700 Club and Fox News, but God forbid Janet Jackson should ever flash a boob or two men should ever kiss on TV; we have turned millions of ordinary otherwise law-abiding people into criminals by criminalizing marijuana; we think it's okay to torture animals to make better mascara, but think it's wrong to use stem cells to cure Parkinson's disease.

The rich make money on the backs of the hard-working lower and middle class and we are afraid to tax them; we all support the Constitution, but only when it supports our political ideology; we still have freedom of speech, but only if you have enough money to make yourself heard, and only until the Oakland police decide your drums are too loud; we decry the lack of education for our children but vote to lower teacher salaries and cut school budgets; the land of opportunity has become the land of bailouts for hedge fund managers and tax breaks for millionaires; and we're stupid enough to think the BP oil spill was as bad as Hurricane Katrina because OBVIOUSLY the oil spill caused thousands of people to be holed up in a sports arena for days and left thousands of people homeless while the President flew around in an airplane watching, except OH WAIT none of that happened with the BP oil spill.

And how do we handle a major crisis today? The President proposes a plan and the Republicans filibuster it so that nothing gets accomplished, and we hold the economy hostage until we figure out a way that the rich can become even richer while the poor and elderly pay the price.

What has happened to the land where all of us were created equal?